Iħjut Id-deni ta ' Danica fir-razza ta ' riband blu ta ' NASCAR, il-Daytona 500

Danica Patrick ta 'Chevrolet hija l-ewwel sewwieqa femminili li tikkwalifika fuq arblu għall-Daytona 500, u hija mistennija li tkun rebbieħa tal-klassifikazzjonijiet tat-televiżjoni fil-partitarji tal-Formula 1 USAWhile se tkun qed tara l-azzjoni tal-ittestjar din il-ġimgħa f'Barċellona, fuq fl-Istati Uniti d-dinja tal-karozzi tal-istokk NASCAR hija kollha a-Twitter grazzi għall-avvenimenti fil-kwalifikazzjoni għall-Daytona 500 nhar il-Ħadd.
Il-500 huwa l-ewwel rawnd tan-NASCAR Sprint Cup u tradizzjonalment huwa l-akbar avveniment tas-sena NASCAR, b'fond ta 'premju li x'aktarx jilħaq l-aqwa $ 20 miljun għall-ewwel darba u udjenza tat-TV mistennija tkun mill-inqas 30 miljun u probabbilment aktar minħabba l-eċċitament li jdawwar dan l-avveniment tas-snin.
Iċ-ċifri tal-wiri x'aktarx li jgħaddu mis-saqaf bħala riżultat ta 'Danica Patrick li lapping is-superspeedway ta' żewġ mili u nofs f'45. 817 sekondi, b'veloċità medja ta '196. 434mph fil-Stewart Haas Racing Go Daddy tagħha Marka ta ' l-ingrolet. Hija saħansitra kellha t-temerità li tħabbat lill-kap tat-tim tagħha Tony Stewart barra l-arblu.
Ir-raġel ta' 30 sena minn Wisconsin kien it-tmien wieħed mill-45 sewwieq li pprova jikkwalifika u mbagħad kellu jistenna għal kważi sagħtejn hekk kif l-oħrajn ippruvaw iħabbtulha l-arblu. Għall-pjaċir tal-midja mainstream l-isfidanti tagħha inkludewha reċentement żvelat għarus ġdid Ricky Stenhouse Jr, li spiċċa fit-12-il post, eżatt qabel l-eks stilla tal-Formula 1 Juan Pablo Montoya.
Kienet stennija mimlija tensjoni b'diversi mumenti meta dehret bħallikieku l-ħolma kienet se titfarrak, notevolment meta ċ-champion multiplu tan-NASCAR Jeff Gordon sar l-uniku sewwieq ieħor li dawwar il-veloċità f'aktar minn 196mph, iżda l-medja tiegħu kienet biss 196. 292mph.
Tard fil-proċeduri kien hemm biża' oħra meta r-rebbieħ ta' Daytona 500 tal-2011 Trevor Bayne poġġa 195 mhux mistenni. 976mph biex taqbad it-tielet l-iktar ħin mgħaġġel.
Fl-aħħar Patrick kien instabbli u sar l-ewwel sewwieq femminili li talab pole position tan-NASCAR Sprint Cup. Kien aktar impressjonanti peress li dan se jkun Patricks l-ewwel staġun sħiħ fit-Tazza.

Patrick u Gordon biss huma assigurati mill-bidu tagħhom għall-500, filwaqt li l-pożizzjonijiet l-oħra tal-grilja se jiġu deċiżi miż-żewġ tlielaq ta' kwalifikazzjoni ta' Budweiser Duel ta' 150 mil li se jsiru nhar il-Ħamis. L-ewwel wieħed minn dawn se jkun għas-sewwieqa li kkwalifikaw f'pożizzjonijiet b'numru fard (l-ewwel, it-tielet, il-ħames, is-seba' eċċ) u t-tieni għal dawk li spiċċaw f'postijiet innumerati indaqs fil-lista ta' kwalifikaturi (it-tieni, ir-raba', is-sitt, it-tmien eċċ).
Ir-riżultat taż-żewġ tiġrijiet imbagħad jiddeċiedi pożizzjonijiet tal-grilja minn tlieta sa 32, bil-kwalifikazzjonijiet l-oħra jkunu l-erba' sewwieqa l-aktar veloċi li ma spiċċawx it-tlielaq ta' kwalifikazzjoni u taħlita ta' dawk bi slots awtomatiċi tal-bidu bbażati fuq wirjiet is-sena l-oħra, u l-aħħar champion tan-NASCAR li ma kkwalifikax għat-tellieqa. B'kollox se jkun hemm 43 karozza fil-bidu tal-55 ġirja tal-Daytona 500 nhar il-Ħadd.
Mhux daqshekk divertenti għal Katherine
Filwaqt li Danica Patrick tibqa 'l-għeżież tat-tlielaq tal-Istati Uniti, il-Gran Brittanja Katherine Legge, li ttamat li tkun kompetittiva fis-Serje IndyCar din is-sena, sabet ruħha mingħajr drive wara li Dragon Racing u l-isponsor tagħha TrueCar iddeċidew li jarmu lis-sewwieq ta' Guildford favur il-Kolombjan Sebastián Saavedra.
Legge ffirmat ftehim ta' sentejn ma' TrueCar bħala parti mill-kampanja tagħha 'Women Empowered', imfassla biex tgħin lin-nisa jirnexxu fil-motorsport. Dan kollu mar ħażin meta l-kap tad-Dragon Racing Jay Penske (iben is-sid tat-tim tat-tellieqa biljunarju Roger) iddeċieda li juża l-magni Lotus li ma rnexxewx. Huwa ħareġ minn dak il-ftehim iżda seta 'biss iżomm magna Chevrolet waħda u għalhekk Legge kellha taqsam il-karozza tagħha ma' Sebastien Bourdais għall-bqija tas-sena.
Legge jgħid li l-affarijiet ma kinux megħjuna meta Penske u ħuh Mark ġew arrestati fl-swish Nantucket Yacht Club fis-sajf wara li żewġ nisa sfidawhom talli awrinaw fil-parkeġġ tal-Club u sostnew li ġew attakkati.
Dan kien imbarazzanti ħafna, speċjalment bil-messaġġ li konna qed nippruvaw inpinġu rigward l-emanċipazzjoni tan-nisa fil-motorsport, qal Legge.
L-aħwa Penske tbiegħdu b'sena taħt probation, b'istruzzjonijiet biex jevitaw l-alkoħol – u 50 siegħa ta' servizz fil-komunità.

Chevrolet's Danica Patrick is the first female driver to qualify on pole for the Daytona 500, and she's expected to be a television ratings winner in the USAWhile Formula 1 fans will be watching the testing action this week in Barcelona, over in the United States the NASCAR stock car world is all a-Twitter thanks to the events in qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
The 500 is the first round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and is traditionally the biggest event of the NASCAR year, with a prize fund likely to top $20 million for the first time and a TV audience expected to be at least 30 million and probably more given the excitement that surrounds this years event.
The viewing figures are likely to go through the roof as a result of Danica Patrick lapping the two and a half mile superspeedway in 45. 817 seconds, at an average speed of 196. 434mph in her Stewart Haas Racing Go Daddy Chevrolet. She even had the temerity to knock her team boss Tony Stewart off pole.
The 30-year-old from Wisconsin was the eighth of the 45 drivers to attempt to qualify and then had to wait for nearly two hours as the others tried to knock her off pole. To the delight of the mainstream media her challengers included her recently revealed new boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who ended up 12th, just ahead of former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya.
It was a tense wait with several moments when it looked as though the dream would be shattered, notably when multiple NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon became the only other driver to lap the speedway at over 196mph, but his average was only 196. 292mph.
Late in proceedings there was another scare when 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne put in an unexpected 195. 976mph to grab the third fastest time.
In the end Patrick was unbeatable and became the first female driver to claim a NASCAR Sprint Cup pole position. It was all the more impressive as this will be Patricks first full season in the Cup.
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Only Patrick and Gordon are assured of their starting for the 500, while the other grid positions will be decided by the two 150-mile Budweiser Duel qualifying races that will take place on Thursday. The first of these will be for the drivers who qualified in odd-numbered positions (first, third, fifth, seventh etc) and the second for those who ended up in even-numbered places in the list of qualifiers (second, fourth, sixth, eighth etc).
The result of the two races will then decide grid positions from three to 32, with the other qualifiers being the four fastest drivers who did not finish the qualifying races and a mixture of those with automatic starting slots based on performances last year, and the last NASCAR champion who did not qualify for the race. In total there will be 43 cars at the start of the 55th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
Not so much fun for Katherine
While Danica Patrick remains the darling of US racing, Britains Katherine Legge, who hoped to be competitive in the IndyCar Series this year, has found herself without a drive after Dragon Racing and her sponsor TrueCar decided to dump the Guildford driver in favour of Colombian Sebastián Saavedra.
Legge signed a two-year deal with TrueCar as part of its 'Women Empowered' campaign, designed to assist women to be successful in motorsport. This all went wrong when Dragon Racing boss Jay Penske (son of billionaire race team owner Roger) decided to use the unsuccessful Lotus engines. He got out of that deal but could only get hold of one Chevrolet engine and so Legge had to share her car with Sebastien Bourdais for the rest of the year.
Legge says that things were not helped when Penske and his brother Mark were arrested at the swish Nantucket Yacht Club in the summer after two women challenged them for urinating in the Club parking lot and claimed to have been assaulted.
This was highly embarrassing, especially with the message that we were trying to portray regarding the empowerment of women in motorsport, said Legge.
The Penske brothers got away with a year on probation, with instructions to avoid alcohol – and 50 hours of community service.